Turkmenistan, Ashgabat, Feb. 21 Trend H. Hasanov /
Cooperating with the Islamic Republic of Iran is having enormous economic potential and is one of the most important vectors of Turkmenistan's foreign policy, Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov told trade delegates at an exhibition of Iranian goods that opened in Ashgabat on Monday.
He said that major joint projects carried out during the past few years serve the interests of the people of both countries. A number of important projects, including the construction of the Dostluk reservoir, the Korpeje-Kordkuy and the Dauletabad-Sarakhs-Khangiran pipelines, as well as the Tejan-Sarakhs-Mashhad railway were implemented.
'The steps taken to further develop mutually beneficial cooperation with the Islamic Republic of Iran demonstrates the high potential of our friendly relations', the statement said.
At this stage a major railway project, North-South is underway with Kazakhstan involved. The construction is being financed jointly by the Asian Development Bank and the Islamic Development Bank.
Both parties also negotiated to increase the supply of energy resources from Turkmenistan.
President Berdimuhamedov stressed that the interest and willingness of both parties to intensify the inter-state trade and economic ties have stipulated a unified approach to the further development of cooperation, initially based on the principles of trust and mutual benefit should follow.
"The mutual interest of both parties to promote effective partnership opens up wide possibilities for cooperation in agriculture, textiles, construction, building materials, energy and chemical industries, tourism and other important activities," the Turkmen leader said.
The 20th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran has been recently marked. A joint legal base comprising more than 180 international documents have been signed at the inter-state, intergovernmental and interdepartmental levels.